Easter Eggs
by alliluna
Summary: Easter eggs, mud, and cake make for an amusing Easter. M/M Easter fluff! Modern AU


**A/N Happy Easter, everyone! This is pure fluff and I kind of rushed to write it so I could publish it on Easter, but I hope you enjoy it. Also, I was inspired by a scene in season 4, and it's fairly obvious which one. This is my first modern AU, so bear with me. If you have a tumblr, I'm alliluna24, please check me out. Reviews make my day. :) -Alli**

"Yes, Sybil. Yes, we'll be there. 10 on Saturday, and then your flat. Yes, I'll bring the eggs and the cake. You can tell me about your latest exploit later, I need to go." Mary pressed then end button on her phone and sighed.

Matthew smiled at her from his seat on the kitchen counter and asked, "Where do you need to go?"

She shrugged. "I just didn't want to listen to Sybil talk for hours. You know how she is. She got that from the American side of the family. Just like her ability to come up with insane schemes that I get dragged into."

"What now?"

Mary poured herself a glass of water and took a sip. "She's organized some sort of egg hunt at the clinic where she works. She wants us to fill some eggs and hide them around the courtyard at the clinic and then come to her new flat. And we'll get to meet her new guy."

"Sybil has a boyfriend?" Matthew laughed a little bit. Sybil felt like a little sister to him and he was always surprised to see her working and dating.

She raised an eyebrow. "He's an Irish journalist, if you can believe it. Papa doesn't seem very fond of him."

"Robert has always been a bit of a traditionalist," Matthew agreed. "By the way, what did you say about cake?"

Mary rounded the counter and kissed his cheek. "I'm baking a carrot cake. And you don't get any until Saturday."

He pretended to pout, but smiled after her as her heels clicked on the hardwood floor of the kitchen.

Saturday dawned bright and clear, though there were obvious signs of the rain that had been dumped on London the day before. Sybil greeted Mary and Matthew with a cheeriness that made Mary roll her eyes. "Tom has a story to report right now, but he'll be at my flat after the hunt," she explained. "Take the eggs and you two can hide them around the courtyard. Don't put them up too high, there's lots of little kids."

As Mary and Matthew headed out into the courtyard, Matthew asked, "How did Sybil start working at a pediatric clinic? I thought she wanted to be a surgeon, not a nurse."

"She's working towards being a surgeon, though Papa thinks it's an utterly disgusting profession," Mary replied, putting a plastic egg in a bush.

Matthew smirked. "Of course he would. He thought the same of my father."

Mary bit her lip. They didn't discuss Matthew's father, who had died just days before the two had gotten married, very often. It was true, her father hadn't exactly been thrilled by the idea of having his daughter marry a doctor's son, but both Matthew and Reginald had proved to be the best of men, and Robert had reconciled himself with the idea.

They worked in silence, hiding eggs in crevices of rocks and in the bushes and trees.

That was, until mud came into play.

Mary decided to put a couple eggs in the short clipped glass, easy enough for young children to find. She didn't take into account the rain from the day before, not thinking about the slippery mud. And she fell.

Matthew couldn't help but laugh at the sight of his wife covered in mud. "Are you okay, Mary?" he asked, trying to hold back his giggles.

"I'm in no shape to be seen in public, if that's what you mean," Mary said indignantly. Matthew carefully made his way over the soggy ground and towards Mary.

"I think you look lovely. The mud really accentuates your eyes," he joked as he held his hand out to help her up.

Instead of taking his hand to get up, Mary pulled him into the mud as well. "You look perfectly lovely too," she said as he tried to recover.

"You are a cruel woman, Mary Crawley."

She brushed some of the mud out of his hair. "I know."

"I'll get you for that," he replied, grabbing a handful of mud and smearing across her face. A playful smirk crossed his face as he threw more at her.

She wiped it out of her eyes and gave him an icy glare. "You don't know what you've gotten yourself into." And with that, there was wet dirt all over his face and mouth. More on his head, then some smeared onto his shirt.

Matthew looked at her with surprise in his eyes and she began to really laugh. He started to rumble as well, and full-on mudslinging began. Somehow, after a few minutes, they found themselves lying in mud, both covered in it.

"That was fun," Matthew said, wiping dirt off of his mouth. "Ever imagine yourself doing that?"

"Ever since I met you, I've found myself doing unimaginable things," Mary replied. She sat up and leaned on her elbows. "And those unimaginable things are actually quite fun."

She moved closer to him and kissed him, holding her lips over him until they were interrupted.

"Mary, Matthew?" Sybil came out into the courtyard. "Are you..."

Both sat up. Matthew was blushing furiously, though no one could see it under the coating of mud on his face.

"Sorry," Mary said, but she didn't sound very sorry at all.

Sybil looked at the two mud-covered figures on the soggy grass. "What happened..."

Matthew and Mary shared a smile and shook their heads. "Nothing," they replied at the same time.

"Obviously," Sybil replied with sarcasm apparent in her voice. "I assume you'll want to go home to change before you come to my flat?" But she didn't wait for an answer before turning and going back into the building.

"Well, how about it?" Matthew stood up. "I'd say I could use a change of clothes."

Mary nodded and added, "I think I forgot the cake anyway."

"You mean that delicious carrot cake?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You ate some, didn't you." Matthew gave her a guilty look, and she swatted his arm playfully. "Naughty boy."

But before she could scold him any more, he pressed his lips onto hers.


End file.
